When presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee created controversy with his recent remarks about Mormonism, he claimed he didn't know much about the faith.

But Newsmax can shed some light on Huckabee and the controversy.

In an interview with the New York Times published on Dec. 16, Huckabee was quoted as asking: "Don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?"

Asked if he thought Mormonism was a religion or a cult, Huckabee said he thought it was the former, but added that he doesn't "know much about it."

Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister, later apologized for the comments to GOP presidential rival Mitt Romney, who is a Mormon.

He also told CNN that he asked the question of the interviewer because "I really didn't know."

What Newsmax does know is that in June 1998, the Southern Baptist Convention held its annual meeting in Salt Lake City, the backyard of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — the Mormons. The annual meeting created a stir between the Baptists and the Mormons.

The keynote speaker at the gathering was then-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

At the annual meeting, the SBC distributed copies of a book entitled "Confronting the Contradictions Between Mormon Beliefs and True Christianity," whose lead author is R. Philip Roberts, director of the Interfaith Witness Division of the North American Mission Board of the SBC.

The book maintains that while Mormons claim to be Christians, they propagate a non-Christian view of God, a non-Christian view of Jesus, and a non-Christian view of the gospel.

In a passage that echoes Huckabee's question, the book quotes a Mormon apostle as saying: "Satan is a person with a spirit body in form like that of all other men. He is a spirit brother of ours and of our Lord Jesus Christ."

In another passage, Roberts and his co-authors state: "Mormons claim that the early Christian church contained all the same teachings the LDS [Latter-day Saints] embrace today. However, with the death of Christ's apostles, they believe the church fell into total apostasy, instituted false doctrine, changed the Scriptures, and lost the authority to minister in God's name. Mormonism claims that every baptism performed by a minister outside of the true Church of Christ is rejected by God."

The book also makes these assertions:

"Mormonism is not just a cult in terms of doctrine; it is a culture that seeks to attract and hold people and their families for generations."

"Mormonism teaches that God is confined to a physical body and is married."

"The more sinister and controversial aspects of Mormon history are not known by the average Mormon."

In his address at the SBC meeting, Huckabee never addressed the Mormon controversy but he did say that he hoped Americans would "take this nation back for Christ."

Five years ago as Arkansas governor, Mike Huckabee wrote a letter to President Bush saying the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba was hurting rice farmers in his state and has "certainly not helped the people of Cuba."

Now presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has vowed that if he wins the White House, he will veto any effort to end the embargo.

"It was a change of heart sure to please hard-liners among the Cuban exiles who could make up 10 percent or more of the electorate in Florida's crucial Jan. 29 Republican primary," the Los Angeles Times observed.

GOP presidential rival Fred Thompson has attacked Huckabee for changing his position on the embargo "on a dime to appeal to a particular group of people right before an election."

But Huckabee explained: "Rather than seeing it as some huge change, I would call it, rather, the simple reality that I'm running for president of the United States, not for re-election as governor of Arkansas.

"I've got to look at this as an issue that touches the whole country."

He also admitted during a visit to Miami: "I really wasn't that aware of a lot of the issues that exist between Cuba and the United States."

The shift on the embargo parallels Huckabee's changing views on immigration, the Times noted.

As governor, Huckabee backed in-state college tuition for the children of illegal aliens, and loudly protested to federal authorities after they raided an Arkansas poultry plant and arrested and deported many Mexican workers in the U.S. illegally.

Now Huckabee has proposed a plan that would require all illegal workers to register with federal authorities and return to their native countries within 120 days.

Frank Sharry, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, an immigration rights organization, told the Times that Huckabee's former and present stances on the issue are "like night and day."

Feisty talk radio host Michael Savage is fighting back against a Muslim organization that attacked him for comments he made on the air by filing a lawsuit against the controversial group.

On Savage's Oct. 29 show, he let loose with a stream of negative remarks about Islam, calling the Koran "a book of hate" and declaring that some Muslims "need deportation."

In response, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) — which promotes itself as "America's largest Islamic civil liberties group" — made Savage's comments available on its Web site and called on advertisers to boycott his show, which reaches an estimate 8 million listeners a week on almost 400 stations.

At least two of his major sponsors have pulled their ads, according to the New York Times, although Citrix withdrew for unstated reasons and Trusted ID claimed poor responses to its ads.

However, Savage said in an interview that the boycott had cost his show more than a million dollars in ad revenue committed for next year.

On Dec. 3, Savage and his attorney David A. Horowitz responded by filing a lawsuit against CAIR in U.S. District Court, primarily for copyright infringement. The suit maintains that CAIR "misappropriated" his work by posting his four-minute tirade on its Web site and including it in fund-raising efforts.

"If they are trying to hang me by my own petard, they have no right to use my petard," Savage said on a recent show.

Savage's suit also accuses CAIR of misrepresenting itself as a "civil rights organization" and of "advocating a specific political agenda that is directly opposed to the existence of a free society."

The San Francisco Chronicle observes: "While the copyright infringement charges against CAIR may or may not pan out, the broader implications could end up holding the most weight."

CAIR is no stranger to controversy. Federal prosecutors cited the organization as an unindicted co-conspirator in a recent case involving a Muslim charity, the Holy Land Foundation, and its alleged financial ties to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. The case ended in a mistrial, and CAIR has sought to have the "unindicted co-conspirator" tag retracted.

Savage is himself no stranger to controversy. MSNBC pulled the plug on its simulcast of his San Francisco-based radio show in 2003 after he said he hoped a caller who had identified himself as gay would die of AIDS.

More recently, the Board of Supervisors of San Francisco passed a resolution in October condemning him for remarks he made about a group of college students on a hunger strike in support of easing immigration restrictions. Savage said the protesters should "fast until they starve to death."

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas told Rush Limbaugh in a candid interview that he never wanted to be on the Court — and that his "dream job" was to be a truck driver.

In the wide-ranging on-air interview — which Rush published in his newsletter, The Limbaugh Letter — the radio host asked Thomas if he saw his position on the Supreme Court as the "pinnacle" of his profession.

"I don't see it that way," Thomas answered. "I am honored to be a part of defending what we think is the best country in the world, the best Constitution in the world, and I'm honored to be in this role for my fellow citizens."

At another point Thomas further downplayed his position.

"I never really wanted to be on the Court. I don't like Washington," he told Rush. "I think when the President asks you to do something, you should do it.

"Most people would say, 'But it's the Supreme Court.' Well, maybe they are interested in it as a personal ambition, but I was not. It wasn't something I was trying to get…

"My one dream job was to be a truck driver. I still have that in my system. I love being around tractor-trailers, 18-wheelers. I love working on large vehicles, driving them."

Limbaugh asked Thomas if it was true that he got into Yale Law School because of affirmative action.

"They didn't call it that back then," Thomas explained. "They called it 'preferential treatment.' At the time, Yale claimed it was accepting us on merit."

But after graduating from Yale, Thomas said, "it was clear from the law firms that their assumption was that I had no business at Yale. I could not get a job after Yale Law School. I tried Atlanta; I tried New York; I tried Washington, D.C.

"The only person who would look me in the eye and say that he would give me the same opportunity as anybody else to do my best was then [Missouri] Attorney General [John] Danforth. As a result, I wound up in Jefferson City, Missouri."

Rush: "So the criticism here that you, in your later life, somehow opposed affirmative action and thus deny other minority students the advantages or the opportunities you had, is not true?"

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6. Tancredo Seeks Response from Ron Paul Over 'Radical Diatribe'

Tom Tancredo has asked Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul to disavow or accept responsibility for a letter published on the Web site of his former Chief of Staff Lew Rockwell.

In a statement issued by the Colorado congressman's office, Republican Tancredo said: "This letter written on behalf of Ron Paul labels the Minutemen as racists, supports a pathway to citizenship, and denounces assimilation and the use of the English language in America.

"Congressman Paul needs to write off this radical diatribe as nothing more than a rogue supporter misusing his name, or publicly support the views that are exhibited in this letter."

Tancredo was himself a presidential candidate until dropping out of the race on Thursday. He had based his campaign on fighting illegal immigration and ran television ads that linked lax border control to terrorist attacks, rape and other crimes.

The letter that appears on Rockwell's Web site is titled "An Open Letter to Hispanics on Behalf of Ron Paul." However, it was written by Abelardo J. Arias, a Connecticut attorney who according to the site is a "longtime admirer" of the Texas congressman.

He writes that the Hispanic community has "seen overt racism from people like the Minutemen and other self-armed vigilantes who patrol the border."

Arias notes that Paul "does not favor amnesty for illegal immigrants," then goes on to say:

"Although I personally support amnesty as an emergency measure to forgive the hard-working taxpayers who live in our country illegally, I can still fully support Ron Paul as a man who will defend the rights and liberties of men, women and children who enter this country for a better life."

Arias also states: "Hispanics balk at any attempt by the majority to assimilate us or to only speak English because we're in someone else's country. Ron Paul's principles in action demonstrate that he would never support a policy that Hispanics in America need to do as Americans do."

THAT talk radio host Michael Smerconish's new book about a controversial murder case has hit the New York Times best-seller list and will be in the 20th position on the list published Dec. 30.

"Murdered by Mumia: A Life Sentence of Loss, Pain, and Injustice" (The Lyons Press) is co-authored by Maureen Faulkner, whose husband Danny, a Philadelphia police officer, was shot and killed in December 1981.

Former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal was convicted of the crime and sentenced to death. But a "Free Mumia" movement was started by supporters who believe he is innocent, with Jesse Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg and Ed Asner among them, according to Amazon.com.

But Smerconish, a lawyer, has extensively studied the case and said that in his opinion "Abu-Jamal murdered Danny Faulkner in cold blood."

THAT two conservative Time magazine columnists who backed the Iraq war — William Kristol and Charles Krauthammer — are leaving the magazine.

Krauthammer, a Pulitzer Prize winner, has confirmed his departure, and a Time spokesperson said Kristol's contract would not be renewed.

Krauthammer writes a column for the Washington Post, and Kristol is the editor of The Weekly Standard.

The New York Observer said the reasons for the pair's departure "are not entirely clear."

THAT a new book by Florida political activist Sid Dinerstein has just been released.

"Adults Only: For People Who Love Their Country More Than Their Party" sets party politics aside and offers practical solutions to the major issues confronting America today, according to its publisher, StarGroup International.

"The biggest problem of politics in America is the blame game," said Dinerstein, who has served as chairman of the Republican Party of Palm Beach County since 2002.

"We are too busy blaming the other party to have enough time to devote to solving the problems facing us. It's time we grow up and start acting like adults."

The book is available at bookstores and Amazon.com, or through the Web site www.siddinerstein.com.

THAT Jon Voight, Dennis Miller and Melissa Gilbert are among the celebrities who have done what is considered "politically incorrect" in Hollywood — express support for GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani.

Some stars who secretly support Giuliani are remaining silent out of fear that publicly stating their views could hurt their careers, the New York Post reports.

Los Angeles publicist Michael Levine, who backs Rudy, said: "Hollywood is a very liberal town and supporting a Republican, even one with liberal social views, is considered risky business."